Acts 9:15-16
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
The Cure of Ars once said: “The priest continues the work of redemption on earth…. If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love…. The Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” We are living in a time when a few unworthy men have temporarily blinded many people to the great gift God has given us in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. But this is pretty much like letting the war crime of the bombing of Dresden blind us to the fact that the defeat of Hitler and Tojo and the liberation of Europe and much of Asia was a huge good. The vast majority of priests are heroes and deserve our gratitude and love. Tomorrow at Mass, take a minute to thank your priest for being the heart of Jesus in your parish.
